Block Trump’s Unilateral Authority to Launch Nuclear Weapons

From Peace Action (http://www.peace-action.org/):

Just let that sink in for a moment.

It’s crazy enough that U.S. nuclear weapons launch protocol requires the order to start a civilization-ending nuclear war from only one person, the President.

It’s absolutely insane when that one person is now Donald Trump.
The good news is, there’s something you can do about it.

Representative Ted Lieu (D-CA-33) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) have introduced bills that would check this unrestrained authority of the President to launch a nuclear weapon. The Restricting Use of Nuclear Weapons Act (H.R. 669/S. 200) prohibits the President from launching nuclear weapons without a Congressional declaration of war or in response to a nuclear attack.

This change to the nuclear launch protocol is decades overdue, but it has never been more important than now. We need to build support for a no first-use policy in Congress, and you can make that happen. Take a quick moment now to contact your members of Congress at http://org.salsalabs.com/o/161/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=20964 and ask them to support the Lieu and Markey bills to add a Congressional check on launching nuclear weapons.

In his official release, Rep. Lieu stated “It is a frightening reality that the U.S. now has a Commander-in-Chief who has demonstrated ignorance of the nuclear triad, stated his desire to be ‘unpredictable’ with nuclear weapons, and as president-elect was making sweeping statements about U.S. nuclear policy over Twitter. Congress must act to preserve global stability by restricting the circumstances under which the U.S. would be the first nation to use a nuclear weapon.”

Senator Markey adds “Nuclear war poses the gravest risk to human survival. Yet, President Trump has suggested that he would consider launching nuclear attacks against terrorists. Unfortunately, by maintaining the option of using nuclear weapons first in a conflict, U.S. policy provides him with that power. In a crisis with another nuclear-armed country, this policy drastically increases the risk of unintended nuclear escalation. Neither President Trump, nor any other president, should be allowed to use nuclear weapons except in response to a nuclear attack. By restricting the first use of nuclear weapons, this legislation enshrines that simple principle into law.”

Please, take a quick minute now to contact your members of Congress and ask them to support removing unrestrained access to launching nuclear weapons from Trump!